From BBC News
By Karen Millington | BBC Reporter
When Heather Al-Yousuf, first met her husband of 28 years, they both felt a strong connection to their own faiths.
But their love was not straightforward as Heather is Anglican and her husband is Shia Muslim. However, Mrs Al-Yousuf thinks this is why so many inter-faith couples are drawn together.
Inter-faith marriage is on the rise in the UK. But as couples from different faiths fall in love, what are the challenges they face?
“There are quite a lot of Catholic-Muslim couples, and Catholics from quite a strong Catholic background meeting a Muslim from a strong Muslim background.
It is almost like there is something they recognise about each other, there is an unconscious connection there – same kind of families, same kind of faith informing how they live life,” Mrs Al-Yousuf says.
She believes each faith puts family at its core. However, inter-faith relationships also challenge both faiths. Where do they marry? In what faith do they raise their children?
According to figures from the 2001 census, more than 4% of married Muslims are in an inter-faith marriage in England and Wales.
But Mrs Al-Yousuf, who now lives in Oxfordshire, thinks this figure could be higher as there could be many more unmarried couples who choose not to marry due to the complications caused by selecting a ceremony.
